Man, woman found shot to death in vehicle in Algiers

Police are investigating a fatal double shooting that claimed the lives of a 57-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman. The victims were discovered just before 7 a.m. Sunday inside of a car in the 3500 block of Vespasian Boulevard, according to the New Orleans Police Department.

A resident of an apartment complex called police when he discovered the unresponsive victims inside of a silver Volkswagen Jetta in the parking lot. Officers arrived and found the male victim in the front driver’s seat and the female victim in the rear seat. Both victims were shot in the head and died on the scene.

Several residents said Sunday they were surprised by the incident, and hadn’t heard gunshots or anything out of the ordinary before police arrived in the morning.

“I saw the police out, but I hadn’t heard anything at all,” said 28-year-old Michelle Lewis, who lives around the corner from the apartment buildings where the car was found. “I’ve lived over here for three years and I’ve never heard bad news over here in this area. I was shocked.”

Lewis was outside walking with her daughter. Nearby, a group of children were playing in the street, as a puppy tagged along behind them.

One neighbor, exiting his car in a brown suit, said that an area of housing behind the apartment buildings on Vespasian Boulevard had been “rough” in years past, but that he felt the neighborhood was getting safer.

“I’ve lived here since ‘05, and we’ve never had incidents on this side,” said Alfred, 43, who said he preferred not to give his last name. “There’s another set of apartments in the back. It was rough back there, but they’ve gotten a hold of it now. It’s a lot different now.”

The investigation into the double murder is on-going and detectives are investigating to determine a motive.

Homicide Detective Timothy Bender is in charge of the investigation and can be contacted at (504) 658-5300.

The coroner will release the identity of the victims after notification of family members and will perform an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

Success! An email has been sent with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

New Orleans Breaking News

Stay in the know about New Orleans' biggest news headlines. Sign up today for our newsletter!